s/instagram/snapchat/gc

Not really. Instagram is way more heavily used by college kids as far as I can tell.

Instagram has ads?

Tons of them, in between posts, and they're fairly well targeted.

I manage three accounts and in the main one, I've never seen ads. Can't work out why.

3 samples I just took (which actually made me realize i get a ton of ads cause I didn't scroll very far for this):

https://i.gyazo.com/5d48e7d926ad5e237536c9dfb99d6aa1.png

https://i.gyazo.com/0194219ec43f3ce6e386f9d5b2443bc3.jpg

https://i.gyazo.com/e7904940fab2d6b610cbac5f83d119d8.png

The last one is a gif or video.

You're excluded from the audience?

Yes, users plugging products in their pictures/posts in exchange for money or free samples.

I don't think those are the "ads" people here are talking about. As far as I know Instagram doesn't make any money off of personal endorsements like that.

They offer business accounts: https://business.instagram.com/

Which looks to have at least some useful tools: https://blogs.constantcontact.com/instagram-business-account...

Now I'm not saying every Instagram model getting endorsed for posting about some company's fitness gear has a business account, but I'm also sure that number isn't zero. There's a gray area where if you're making enough money off that type of thing, or are close enough to get there with the right nudge, that it probably makes sense to buy into it even though you're not necessarily running a business.

Essentially, you're paying into being (or becoming) a professional celebrity. My guess is the number of users in that niche isn't trivial.